The Group of Monuments lies in the austere, extravagant site of Hampi - the last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. Immensely adored by travelers between the 14th and 16th centuries, the site’s Dravidian temples and palaces were built by its fabulously rich princes. The Deccan Muslim confederacy conquered the site in 1565; over a period of six months the city was pillaged and then abandoned. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. For 360 degree imaging of this site, click here.

Hampi (Kannada: ಹಂಪೆ, Hampe in Kannada) is a village in northern Karnataka, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in India. Hampi is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara empire. Possibly predating the city of Vijayanagara, this village continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple. The village of Hampi contains several other monuments belonging to the old city. It extends into some of the old ceremonial streets of Vijayanagara. As the village is at the original centre of Vijayanagara, it is sometimes confused with this ruined city. Hampi is also called "The City of Ruins". The Vijayanagara ruins are listed as the Group of Monuments at Hampi as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The name "Hampi" is an anglicized version of the Kannada Hampe (derived from Pampa, the ancient name for the Tungabhadra river). Over the years, it has also been referred to as Vijayanagara and Virupakshapura (from Virupaksha, the patron deity of the Vijayanagara rulers). --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. For 360 degree imaging of this site, click here.